US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to let a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct keep his Trident pin designating him as a member of the elite force, instead of holding a review board, his defence secretary says.
The disclosure by Mark Esper illustrates how Mr Trump intervened repeatedly in the case of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted by a military jury of murdering a captured Islamic State fighter in Iraq but convicted of posing with the detainee's corpse.
After restoring Mr Gallagher's rank on November 15, Trump on Sunday gave a formal order to halt the military's plans to hold a review board, Mr Esper said.
"I spoke with the president on Sunday. He gave me the order that Eddie Gallagher will retain his Trident pin," Mr Esper told reporters on Monday at the Pentagon, referring to Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher.
Mr Esper said he had been in favour of following the regular processes but stressed that, as president, Mr Trump had "every right, authority and privilege to do what he wants to do".
His comments were Mr Esper's first since after he fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday over his handling of the Gallagher case.
President Donald Trump looks to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, July, 2019. Source: AAP
Mr Esper gave new detail about why he fired Mr Spencer, saying the Navy chief had sought to cut a side deal with the White House that was "contrary to what we had agreed to and contrary to Secretary Spencer's public position", in which he appeared to favour allowing the military justice process to go ahead.
"We learned that several days prior, Secretary Spencer had proposed a deal whereby if the president allowed the Navy to handle the case, he would guarantee that Eddie Gallagher would be restored to rank, allowed to retain his Trident and permitted to retire," Mr Esper said.
Esper said he asked for Spencer's resignation letter on Sunday.
Mr Spencer's letter, seen by Reuters, took parting shots at Mr Trump and defended the need to preserve "good order and discipline throughout the ranks", something Navy officials had believed the peer review board would help ensure.
"The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries," Mr Spencer wrote.
"Unfortunately it has become apparent that in this respect, I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me."
The top US general said on Monday that as far as he was concerned the Gallagher case was now closed.
"As far as I'm concerned, it is case closed now and it is time to move on and address the national security of the United States," Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a small group of reporters during a trip to the Middle East.
